Leavening acid composition produced by heating monocalcium phosphate at elevated temperatures

ABSTRACT

A composition of matter comprising a monocalcium phosphate leavening acid having a neutralizing value of between about 44 and about 63 wherein the neutralizing value is the amount by weight of sodium bicarbonate needed to neutralize 100 parts by weight of the monocalcium phosphate leavening acid.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/895,198, filedon Jul. 16, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,050, which is a division ofapplication Ser. No. 08/649,397, filed on May 17, 1996, now U.S. Pat.No. 5,667,836, which is a division of application Ser. No. 08/344,322,filed on Nov. 22, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,404.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to leavening acid compositions for bakedgoods and more particularly monocalcium phosphate leavening acids whichhave excellent control release properties.

2. Technology Description

Chemical leavening systems have been known for over 100 years. Thereplacement of yeast to induce the process of fermentation by acarbonate alkali which is subjected to the neutralizing action of anacid has reduced the amount of time and materials required for thepreparation of baked goods. From this early beginning various leaveningsystems have been invented and sold as baking powders which contain notonly the leavening alkali and the acid employed to neutralize the acid,but also fillers which enabled convenient measurement, handling andstorage of such baking powders.

Leavening systems have long been known to comprise two basicingredients. The first, of course, is the leavening acid such ascream-of-tartar, various phosphoric acids such as orthophosphoric acid,pyrophosphoric acid and the partial salts thereof such as monocalciumphosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and any other suitable, edible,non-toxic acid which would not impart an undesirable taste to theresultant baked goods. Such acids have been known as "acidulants", or"baking acids" but more commonly as "leavening acids".

When added to a moist batter or dough, the acid reacts with a carbondioxide liberating compound included in the batter or dough to yield thegas necessary for leavening. The rate of gas evolution is an importantconsideration determining largely the volume, density and texturequalities which will be imparted to the final baked product. This ratemust occur within rather narrow limits for some applications such as inthe preparation of prepared, canned dough for biscuits. Also, leaveningrequirements differ widely among the various baked goods for each ofthese demands a particular speed of evolution to ensure highest qualityproducts. One of the principal factors with respect to the speed ofevolution of carbon dioxide is the reactivity of the carbon dioxideproducing material.

It is a primary objective when using leavening acids to modulate andcontrol the carbon dioxide liberation kinetics to yield a suitable finalbaked good product. More particularly, it is desirable to limit thereactive effect of water with the leavening acid. Ideally, the leaveningacid would be designed so that it would not be reactive at the time ofkneading or cold storing of the dough but would be reactive duringheating, where the leavening of the final product takes place.

Particularly useful leavening acids are phosphate materials, and morespecifically monocalcium phosphate. This acid is considered desirable asa commercial candidate a it does not possess sodium and has noaftertaste. While monocalcium phosphate does not possess sodium it hasbeen difficult to adequately control its reaction rate which results inthe release of carbon dioxide bases at various stages during the bakingcycle. The fundamental problem with the use of monocalcium phosphate isthat it liberates gas at too fast a desired rate. As a result, itscommercial use has generally been limited to being a part of a leaveningacid blend. Such blends can be less than optimal because they either maycontain sodium, for example blends of monocalcium phosphate with sodiumaluminum phosphate or sodium pyrophosphate, or may not have a completelybland taste.

It has been known to regulate the speed of carbon dioxide evolution bycontrol of the reactivity of the leavening acid. Numerous attempts tocontrol the speed of reaction of the leavening acid are known in theart. Typical examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,899 to Tucker whereina finely divided calcium salt is combined with the acid to control thespeed of reaction.

Calcium salts have been employed in chemical leavening systems from itsearliest days. A typical example of such use is found in U.S. Pat. No.315,831 to Peters. However, such calcium salts as taught in Peters arerelatively slow acting and have not provided satisfactory performance asthe carbonate factor particularly in comparison with the alkali metalsalts. Although calcium salts such as calcium carbonate have beenemployed for various purposes such as preservatives for the leaveningacid, etc. as noted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,388,336 and 4,526,801, suchcarbonates do not provide the reactivity desired for a carbonate factorin baked goods.

The use of s-called "coated" monocalcium phosphate where the monocalciumphosphate has a thin coating of phosphate surrounding its acid core isknown in the art. However, the "coating" does not provide the reactionkinetics that is ideally preferred and typically can only be used aspart of a blend composition. Such materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 2,160,232. To produce the coated materials, the starting monocalciumphosphate material is subjected to heat treatment at a temperature aboveabout 140° C. The reference further states that the materials should notbe heated to above 230° C. as it is alleged that this can cause rapidconversion of leavening acid to a pyrophosphate form. The referencefurther suggests that the neutralizing value, i.e., the amount of sodiumbicarbonate which is completely neutralized by 100 parts by weight ofthe acid phosphate, of the acids so produced is between about 83 and 88.While this technology has improved the controlled reactivity of themonocalcium phosphate its performance is inferior as compared to sodiumcontaining leavening acids such as sodium acid pyrophosphate and sodiumaluminum phosphate.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,160,700 discloses that anhydrous monocalcium phosphatecan be prepared by crystallization from an acid solution. A preferredmethod of preparing crystalline anhydrous monocalcium phosphate is alsodisclosed in this patent. In the method, a slight excess of lime isadded to a relatively concentrated phosphoric acid solution tospontaneously produce a reaction temperature in excess of 140° C. Thetemperature is controlled in a range above 140° C. but below atemperature at which substantial amounts of pyrophosphate form. Thetemperature is usually controlled by the rate of lime addition. Thereaction is continued until a substantially dry mass of solid anhydrousmonocalcium phosphate is produced.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,109,738 is directed to a leavening acid compositionwhich is a mixture of sodium aluminum phosphate and anhydrousmonocalcium phosphate. This composition demonstrates excellent releaseproperties but requires the use of a sodium containing acid.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,939 is directed to a monocalcium phosphate havingreduced caking tendencies by admixing water with a monocalcium phosphatecomposition having a loss on ignition between about 14 and about 17%,permitting the water and monocalcium phosphate to remain in contact fora sufficient length of time to form a hydrated monocalcium phosphatecomposition with a loss on ignition between 17 and 21.5%, and drying themonocalcium phosphate composition to a free moisture content below 1%and preferably below about 0.5% if the admixture has a free moisturecontent above this level.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to produce a monocalcium phosphateleavening acid whose release rate properties can be tightly controlledfor optimal use for a multiple of baking applications.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, leavening acid compositionswhich have excellent controlled release properties for reaction withleavening bases during various stages in the baking of baked goods areprovided. The acid compositions are particularly characterized by beingmonocalcium phosphate compositions which have been synthesized toprovide a specifically desired neutralizing value.

One embodiment of the present invention comprises a composition ofmatter comprising a monocalcium phosphate leavening acid having aneutralizing value of between about 44 and about 63 wherein theneutralizing value is the amount by weight of sodium bicarbonate neededto neutralize 100 parts by weight of said monocalcium phosphateleavening acid.

In specific embodiments, the monocalcium phosphate may be used in itsanhydrous or monohydrate form.

To produce the inventive monocalcium phosphate of the present invention,a sample of monocalcium phosphate is heated to an elevated temperaturefor a period of time suitable to yield a material having aneutralization value of between 44 and 63. This typically isaccomplished by heating 100 parts of monocalcium phosphate to betweenabout 200° C. and about 310° C. for between about 0.25 hours and about30 hours to yield 83 to 93 parts of resulting material.

Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a baking mix forpreparing an edible baked good including a composition of mattercomprising a monocalcium phosphate leavening acid having a neutralizingvalue of between about 44 and about 63 wherein the neutralizing value isthe amount by weight of sodium bicarbonate needed to neutralize 100parts by weight of said monocalcium phosphate leavening acid.

The baking mix may be used to prepare a cake, muffin, doughnut, bread,pastry, cookie, brownie, hush puppy, pancake, waffle, pizza crust orroll.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide acomposition useful as a leavening acid which has excellent stability andrelease properties.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a process forproducing the novel leavening acid composition.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bakingmix using the novel leavening acid composition.

These, and other objects, will readily be apparent to those skilled inthe art as reference is made to the detailed description of thepreferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The Drawing is a graph of the Dough Rate of Reaction (DRR) ofmonocalcium phosphate heated to different temperatures for definedperiods of time in accordance with the present invention as compared toan unheated sample and to a commercially successful sodium aluminumphosphate leavening acid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In describing the preferred embodiment, certain terminology will beutilized for the sake of clarity. Such terminology is intended toencompass the recited embodiment, as well as all technical equivalentswhich operate in a similar manner for a similar purpose to achieve asimilar result.

The main focus of the present invention is to develop leavening acidcompounds which have desirable control release properties so that theacid would be released only when the proper time in the baking cycletakes place. More particularly, the liberation of carbon dioxide shouldtake place either by an input of water to a baking mixture containingthe leavening acid compound, by the elevation of temperature duringheating or by the combined effect.

Conversely, it is desired that the acid not prematurely release carbondioxide gas during the preparation of the baking mix, or subsequentdough, for example, during the kneading phase, or while it is beingstored prior to baking. The present invention accomplishes the abovecriteria by treating a monocalcium phosphate leavening acid compositionsuch that its neutralizing value is reduced to between about 44 to about63. Particularly preferred compositions have a neutralizing valuebetween about 44 and about 57, even more preferred between about 46 andabout 55.

The leavening acid which forms the present invention can be any of thefollowing materials: monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate; and monocalciumphosphate, anhydrous. Particularly preferred is the use of monocalciumphosphate in its hydrated form.

The monocalcium phosphate typically has a mean particle sizes of betweenabout 20 and about 200 microns, and particle sizes ranging from about 30to about 120 microns or from about 50 to about 200 microns beingcommercially available.

Before the heat treatment of the present invention, the neutralizingvalue of the monocalcium phosphate is typically about 80-85. To reducethe neutralizing value to where the monocalcium phosphate leavening acidcan be used by itself as a multifunctional leavening acid it is simplyheated for a period of time until its neutralizing value ranges betweenabout 44 and 63.

The heating step is simply accomplished by using any heat means known inthe art such as using an oven, steam, either tossed air or convectiontype, a hot plate, fluidized bed rotary drum dryer and the like. Todetermine when the monocalcium phosphate has the desired neutralizingvalue can be accomplished by measuring the amount of material lost uponheating. In practice, to obtain a composition having a neutralizingvalue of between 44 and 63, it is heated until its mass weighs between83 and about 93 percent of its starting mass (i.e., the loss on drying(LOD) is between about 7 and about 17 percent). Even more preferred isheating to where the final amount of material produced weighs betweenabout 83 to about 89 percent of its starting mass (the LOD is between 11and 17). Outstanding material is obtained when the final amount ofmaterial produced weighs between about 85 to about 86.5 percent of itsstarting mass (the LOD is between 13.5 and 15).

Heating conditions used generally involve the heating of the monocalciumphosphate starting material so that the material temperature reachesbetween about 200° C. to about 310° C. and the material is held at thattemperature for a time period of between about 0.25 hours to about 30hours. The heating temperature and time are selected to obtain theabove-recommended LOD values. For example, when the temperature of themonocalcium phosphate is heated to about 220° C., the time of heating isbetween about 20 and about 30 hours; when the temperature of themonocalcium phosphate is heated to about 250° C., the time of heating isbetween about 2 and about 5 hours; when the temperature of themonocalcium phosphate is heated to about 270° C., the time of heating isbetween about 1 and about 2 hours; when the temperature of themonocalcium phosphate is heated to about 290° C., the time of heating isbetween about 0.75 to about 1.50 hours; and when the temperature of themonocalcium phosphate is heated to about 310° C., the time of heating isbetween about 0.50 and about 0.75 hours.

After the monocalcium phosphate has been treated for the suitable amountof time, it is cooled and stored under conditions so that the materialdoes not absorb moisture. Particularly preferred storage conditionsinclude watertight packaging or storage in the presence of a desiccant.

Once produced, the novel leavening acid compositions of the presentinvention may be incorporated in baking mixes for food products wherethe acids react with bases, typically sodium bicarbonate, to produce theleavening function that any known chemical leavening agent or biologicalleavener such as yeast would ordinarily provide. The inventive chemicalleavening system of this invention may be incorporated into a bakingpowder product conveniently prepared by admixing the acid with an baseas a dry powder mix. It is well known that baking powders in the drypowder form are best prepared together with fillers contributing to thebulk of the powder and aiding its measurement for actual use. Fillerssuch as starch, calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate are generallyemployed in baking powders of this invention. Conventional preservativesand fillers may be employed together with the baking powder compositionof this invention as is known in the art.

Examples of food products which can incorporate the inventivecompositions, include, but are not limited to the following: cake,including layer and pound cake; muffin; doughnut; bread; pastry; cookie;room temperature, refrigerated or frozen dough; brownie; hugh puppy;pancake; waffle; pizza crust or roll. The food products may be stored atroom temperature or at reduced temperatures, e.g., refrigerated orfrozen storage conditions.

In use, when the baking mixes are heated, the leavening acids, whichtypically comprise between about 0.2 to about 4.0 percent by weight ofthe mix, controllably release and react with the bases to produce aproperly leavened food product. The use of the inventive monocalciumphosphate material provides a control release profile such that aparticularly high quality leavened product is produced.

The present invention enables the use of monocalcium phosphate alone asa leavening acid. This is a significant improvement as it contains nosodium, has a bland taste and reacts slowly enough to provided desiredleavening properties.

Fresh dough can be prepared from the leavening systems of this inventionin the conventional manner as has been practiced in the art. Typicallythe ingredients are mixed together in the dry state and may be storedfor conventional time periods. It is preferable to refrigerate dry mixedmaterials if extended time periods occur between mixing and thepreparation of the fresh dough. The dry mix is employed to prepare freshdough by incorporating suitable liquids such as milk and shorteningmaterials as is known in the art.

As is known in the art, the desired pH of the final baked good can becontrolled by incorporating into fresh dough leavening acids andalkaline carbonate sources normally employed for that purpose in theart. Generally, the pH of the final baked product ranges from about 5.5to about 9.0, preferably from about 6.9 to about 7.5. The amount ofalkaline carbonate material added should be sufficient to provide a pHwithin the above-described ranges. Typically there is included fromabout 0.3%, by weight to about 3% by weight of the edible, alkalineagent, based upon the weight of the powdered ingredients employed.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the followingexamples.

EXAMPLE 1

20 parts of monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate form (MCP), is weighedaccurately into a large, flat porcelain casserole dish and placed in agravity convection oven. The oven is heated so that the temperature ofthe material in the oven reaches 200° C. and the material is held atthis temperature for 0.25 hours.

The neutralizing value of this material is measured by determining howmany parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate are needed to neutralize 100parts of this composition. This value is shown in Table 1. Theneutralizing value for untreated MCP (Regent 12XX) is 80 and for Levair,a commercially available sodium aluminum phosphate widely recognized forits excellent control release properties is 100.

The loss on drying (LOD) is measured by weighing the resulting materialand determining the percent of material lost by the heating process ascompared to the initial amount used. This value is listed in Table 1.

The dough rate of reaction (DRR) is a term that defines the speed ofcarbon dioxide evolved during mixing and holding of a dough prior tobaking. It is determined by measuring the volume of carbon dioxideevolved from a standard dough formulation containing known quantities ofleavening acid and baking soda under a constant temperature of 27° C. ina modified Chittick Apparatus. The DRR is often used as a guide forselecting the type of leavening acid that is best suited for aparticular product application. A low value for the DRR, i.e., less than50 over 2, 6 and/or 10 to 15 minute reaction times, tends to indicate anexcellent controlled reaction rate.

To measure the amount of CO₂ liberated upon reaction with sodiumhydrogen carbonate for the Example 1 composition, 73.5 parts of asimulated dry dough mix containing flour, nonfat dry milk, salt andshortening, 0.75 parts of NaHCO₃ and 0.93 parts of the Example 1composition are added to a reaction bomb. 43 parts of water are addedand the contents are mixed. Using a modified Chittick Apparatus (or anysimilar apparatus which capable of measuring gas evolution) the amountof CO₂ evolved compared to the total amount available to the evolved(DRR) is measured at times of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15 minutes. TheDRR values are listed in Table 2, as are the DRR values for Regent 12XXand Levair.

To determine if the above Example leavening acid composition would workwell in baking mixes, the following yellow cake mix is prepared:

    ______________________________________    Cake Flour            236.30   parts    Granulated Sugar      280.84   parts    Shortening            53.57    parts    Nonfat Dry Milk       18.17    parts    Egg Yolk Solids       22.89    parts    Egg White Solids      9.20     parts    NaCl                  6.37     parts    Inventive Leavening Acid                          9.0--13.0                                   parts    Composition    Sodium Bicarbonate    5.66     parts    Pregelatinized Wheat Starch                          2.60     parts    Emulsifier            5.00     parts    ______________________________________

A batter is made by adding to the mixture first, 170.00 parts of water,then 142.00 parts of water. The batter was immediately added to a bakingdish and baked at 375° F. for 25 minutes to form a yellow cake.

To determine if the above batters could produce high quality cakes afterbaking, they are quantitatively analyzed by using the followingcriteria: Batter Specific Gravity, Cake Specific Volume and Cake pH. Aspecific volume of 3.25 is considered commercially acceptable. Thevalues for these criteria are shown in Table 1.

As a first comparison, the cake specific volume measured for the Regent12XX cake is 2.59 and the cake specific volume measured for the Levaircake is 3.55.

EXAMPLES 2-47

The procedure of Example 1 is repeated except that the heatingconditions (temperature and time) used are shown in Table 1, and forExamples 20-23 and 34-47, 100 parts of monocalcium phosphate monohydratestarting material are used. Also shown in Table 1 are the values for%Loss on Drying (% LOD), Neutralizing Value (NV), Batter SpecificGravity (Sp. Gravity), Cake Specific Volume (Sp. Volume) and Cake pH(pH).

The DRR data for Examples 2-19 and 24-33 are shown in Table 2.

                  TABLE 1    ______________________________________           Temp    Time    %         Sp.    Sp.    Example           (° C.)                   (hr)    LOD  NV   volume Gravity                                                  pH    ______________________________________    Levair --      --      --   100  3.55   0.92  7.79    Regent --      --      --   78   2.59   0.86  7.34    12XX     1     200     0.25    7.6  67   2.67   0.35  7.21     2     200     0.50    8.0  66   2.74   0.85  7.16     3     200     1.00    8.2  65   2.75   0.87  7.19     4     200     1.50    8.3  66   2.80   0.85  7.16     5     200     2.00    8.3  67   3.11   0.77  7.12     6     200     3.00    8.4  67   3.18   0.77  7.16     7     200     7.00    8.6  66   3.18   0.74  7.09     8     200     17.00   9.0  65   3.18   0.75  7.07     9     200     20.00   9.0  65   3.27   0.74  7.07    10     220     0.25    7.5  67   2.64   0.83  7.13    11     220     0.50    8.3  66   2.73   0.83  7.17    12     220     1.00    8.7  65   2.88   0.81  7.14    13     220     1.50    8.8  66   3.06   0.79  7.12    14     220     2.00    8.9  65   3.05   0.78  7.12    15     220     3.00    9.3  63   3.29   0.75  7.15    16     220     5.00    9.5  62   3.31   0.76  7.13    17     220     7.00    9.9  62   3.31   0.76  7.18    18     220     17.00   10.9 59   3.42   0.78  7.32    19     220     20.00   11.2 58   3.46   0.80  7.33    20     220     22.00   12.9 54   3.29   0.87  7.51    21     220     24.00   13.0 53   3.37   0.89  7.49    22     220     26.00   13.1 51   3.46   0.91  7.50    23     220     28.00   13.3 52   3.41   0.90  7.50    24     250     0.25    7.0  65   3.00   0.82  7.21    25     250     0.50    10.3 61   3.29   0.78  7.29    26     250     1.00    11.3 59   3.36   0.79  1.41    27     250     1.50    13.9 56   3.49   0.81  7.61    28     250     2.00    13.3 54   3.57   0.87  7.50    29     250     3.00    13.6 53   3.50   0.90  7.54    30     250     2.00    14.1 51   3.53   0.98  7.75    31     250     7.00    14.7 51   3.45   0.91  7.78    32     250     7.00    14.9 50   3.51   0.96  8.99    33     250     20.00   15.5 48   3.37   0.98  8.65    34     270     0.50    9.8  59   3.11   0.80  7.09    35     270     1.00    13.9 50   3.53   0.85  7.15    36     270     1.50    14.6 46   3.62   0.92  7.10    37     270     2.00    15.1 44   3.56   0.92  7.15    38     290     0.50    11.0 63   3.32   0.80  7.37    39     290     0.75    12.9 57   3.39   0.85  7.55    40     290     1.00    14.9 52   3.52   0.92  7.50    41     290     1.25    15.4 52   3.43   0.93  8.31    42     290     1.50    15.5 52   3.37   0.94  8.17    43     310     0.25    9.3  67   2.81   0.85  7.23    44     310     0.50    13.9 55   3.50   0.89  7.77    45     310     0.75    15.2 53   3.36   0.93  8.51    46     310     1.00    15.8 52   3.00   0.94  9.31    47     310     1.25    16.0 49   2.94   0.93  9.38    ______________________________________

                  TABLE 2    ______________________________________    DDR PROFILE OF EXAMPLE MATERIALS            1      2      4    6    8    10   12   15    EXAMPLE min.   min    min  min. min. min. min. min.    ______________________________________    REGENT  57.1   61.9   64.4 65.3 65.8 66.0 66.3 66.7    12XX    21.6   23.7   26.5 28.3 29.9 31.5 32.7 34.5    LEVAIR     1      61.3   65.6   67.9 69.0 69.7 70.2 70.6 71.1     2      57.0   62.0   64.2 65.4 66.1 66.3 66.5 67.0     3      48.5   59.5   63.8 65.4 66.1 66.8 67.2 67.7     4      48.1   57.9   61.5 62.9 63.6 63.8 63.8 64.0     5      43.5   56.0   61.5 63.1 63.8 64.2 64.5 64.7     6      38.3   51.5   58.3 59.9 60.8 61.5 62.0 62.2     7      36.5   50.3   59.2 61.1 62.0 62.4 62.9 63.3     8      30.5   44.2   54.9 57.9 59.2 59.9 60.6 61.1     9      30.5   44.2   55.1 58.3 59.7 60.1 60.8 61.5    10      59.8   65.3   67.6 68.8 69.5 69.7 70.0 70.2    11      40.0   54.3   61.4 63.7 64.9 65.8 66.3 66.7    12      32.7   47.4   58.4 61.2 62.4 63.0 63.5 64.4    13      30.1   44.9   56.8 60.3 61.7 62.6 63.0 63.7    14      30.1   44.4   55.9 58.4 59.8 60.7 61.2 61.7    15      28.1   41.4   55.7 59.8 61.4 62.6 63.3 64.0    16      27.2   39.8   53.6 58.0 59.8 60.7 61.7 62.4    17      26.5   38.4   53.2 57.5 59.8 61.0 61.7 62.6    18      24.4   33.4   45.8 50.2 52.0 53.2 53.8 54.8    19      24.9   33.1   44.6 48.8 50.6 51.8 52.5 53.6    24      31.3   45.4   57.1 60.1 61.5 62.4 63.1 63.8    25      29.0   40.1   50.5 53.5 55.1 56.0 56.7 57.4    26      24.9   33.2   44.2 48.4 50.2 51.4 52.1 53.0    27      24.0   28.8   37.6 41.7 44.0 45.6 46.5 47.9    28      21.7   25.3   31.3 34.1 36.4 37.8 38.7 40.1    29      20.7   23.5   28.1 30.4 32.3 33.4 34.3 35.5    30      19.8   21.9   25.1 26.7 27.8 28.5 29.0 29.9    31      17.9   19.8   21.6 22.5 23.5 24.4 24.9 25.5    32      18.4   19.8   21.4 22.5 23.4 23.9 24.1 24.8    33      17.9   18.8   19.8 20.2 21.1 21.6 22.1 22.3    ______________________________________

DISCUSSION OF DATA

The above data demonstrates that the monocalcium phosphate compositionswhich have been heat treated so that the neutralizing value for theresulting composition is between 44 and 63, and more preferably between44 and 57 and yet most preferably between 46 and 55 yield leaveningacids which have excellent control release properties while producingcakes that have a high specific volume. These neutralizing valuescorrespond to a loss on drying of between about 7 and 17%, with a lossof between about 11 and 16% being particularly preferred. In nearlyevery example where the monocalcium phosphate is heated, the resultingproperties exceed those of untreated monocalcium phosphate (Regent12XX).

The data further demonstrates that it is the combination of heatingtemperature and heating time which should be monitored to yieldsatisfactory compositions. For example, particularly with respect toproducing cakes having excellent specific volumes, at 220° C., excellentresults are obtained when heating the monocalcium phosphate for between20 and 28 hours (Examples 19-23); at 250° C., excellent results areobtained when heating the monocalcium phosphate for between 2 and 5hours (Examples 28-30); at 270° C., excellent results are obtained whenheating the monocalcium phosphate for between 1 and 2 hours (Examples35-37); at 290° C., excellent results are obtained when heating themonocalcium phosphate for between 0.75 and 1.5 hours (Examples 39-42);and at 310° C., excellent results are obtained when heating themonocalcium phosphate for between 0.50 and 0.75 hours (Examples 44-45).

When compared to a commercially successful sodium aluminum phosphate,Levair, manufactured by Rhone-Poulenc Inc., under certain heatingconditions, the inventive materials perform comparably withoutcontaining any sodium or aluminum. Referring to the FIGURE, thefollowing inventive compositions yield control release profilescomparable to that of Levair: Example 29, Example 30, Example 36,Example 40 and Example 44. Each of these materials have a neutralizingvalue of between 46 and 55, with a loss on drying of between 13.6 and14.9. As a reference, the control release profile of the untreatedmonocalcium phosphate, Regent 12XX, is shown. Its release properties aretoo rapid to be considered suitable for use alone in multiple leaveningapplications.

In short, the present invention produces a versatile leavening acidcomposition which is easy to produce, minimizes health risks, is blandto the taste and does not require blending with other leavening acidmaterials.

Having described the invention in detail and by reference to thepreferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modificationsand variations are possible without departing from the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for producing a novel leavening acidcomposition comprising heating monocalcium phosphate at an elevatedtemperature for a suitable period of time so that the resulting materialhas a dough rate or reaction (DRR) of less than 50 at a 10 minutereaction time.
 2. The process according to claim 1 wherein thetemperature of said monocalcium phosphate when heated is between 200° C.and about 310° C. and wherein the time of heating is between about 0.25and about 30 hours.
 3. The process according to claim 2 wherein thetemperature of said monocalcium phosphate when heated is about 220° C.and wherein the time of heating is between about 20 and about 30 hours.4. The process according to claim 2 wherein the temperature of saidmonocalcium phosphate when heated is 250° C. and wherein the time ofheating is between about 2 and about 5 hours.
 5. The process accordingto claim 2 wherein the temperature of said monocalcium phosphate whenheated is about 270° C. and wherein the time of heating is between about1 and about 2 hours.
 6. The process according to claim 2 wherein thetemperature of said monocalcium phosphate when heated is about 290° C.and wherein the time of heating is between about 0.75 and about 1.50hours.
 7. The process according to claim 2 wherein the temperature ofsaid monocalcium phosphate when heated is about 310° C. and wherein thetime of heating is between about 0.50 and about 0.75 hours.
 8. Theprocess according to claim 1 wherein the monocalcium phosphate selectedis anhydrous monocalcium phosphate.
 9. The process according to claim 1wherein the monocalcium phosphate selected is monocalcium phosphatemonohydrate.
 10. A baking mix for preparing an edible baked goodincluding a leavening acid composition comprising the product producedby heating monocalcium phosphate at an elevated temperature for asuitable period of time so that the resulting leavening acid compositionhas a dough rate of reaction (DRR) of less than 50 at a 10 minutereaction time.
 11. The baking mix according to claim 10 which is used toproduce a baking powder cake, muffin, doughnut, bread, pastry, cookie,room temperature, refrigerated or frozen dough, brownie, hush puppy,pancake, waffle, pizza crust or roll.
 12. The baking mix according toclaim 11 wherein said composition of matter comprises between about 0.2to about 0.4 percent by weight of said mix.
 13. The product produced byheating monocalcium phosphate at an elevated temperature for a suitableperiod of time so that the resulting material has a dough rate ofreaction (DRR) of less than 50 at a 10 minute reaction time.